Saint John's 2 biggest malls put up for sale in less than 3 months
CBC
Saint John's largest shopping mall, McAllister Place, was recently put up for sale, barely three months after Brunswick Square.
But Deputy Mayor John MacKenzie said he hopes residents aren't downbeat about the prospects of those properties.
"Because they've seen the Brunswick Square situation for the last three or four years and they should see this as an opportunity for big improvement," he said.
Brunswick Square is a high-rise building uptown with mall space on the first three floors. The first two floors have a food court and a handful of vendors, and the third is completely empty.
"It hasn't been great news in quite a while," MacKenzie said.
"At one point when it was first built, it was full, it was driving a lot of restaurants in there, including McDonald's.… It just sort of went downhill over a period of time."
Lawtons Drugs, on the second floor, is the largest retailer in Brunswick Square. The floors above are office space and also connect to the Delta Hotel.
"In terms of the other mall, McAllister … it's thriving. I mean there's 95 per cent occupancy. It's a business decision, but nothing to be afraid of," MacKenzie said.
"We need to realize that Saint John is doing well and we should be proud to be Saint Johners. And, you know, business decisions like that come and go every day in every city ... so don't be concerned."
McAllister Place is owned by Primaris REIT, while Brunswick Square is owned by Slate Office REIT. Both companies are headquartered in Toronto.
Primaris REIT's portfolio is made up of many malls across the country, including Halifax Shopping Centre, which they bought last year for $370 million.
For real-estate investment trusts such as Slate Office and Primaris REIT, buying and selling assets is a normal occurrence, said Bill MacAvoy, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield Atlantic, the contracted leasing agent for the office space and retail areas of McAllister Place.
"Primaries REIT is a large institutional player in commercial real estate in Canada," MacAvoy said.
"They would own many assets — buying and selling would be a regular course of business. So the decision to test the market here is in no way a reflection on how that mall is performing visa vie others in their portfolio."
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